Ray and Anita
Biography
Ray & Anita is an electronic music duo formed in 2009, comprising Ray Slijngaard and Anita Doth, who had been the voices and faces of the project 2 Unlimited. Their reunion followed the original era created by producers Jean-Paul DeCoster and Phil Wilde, owners of the name and responsible for hits such as Get Ready for This, Twilight Zone, No Limit, Tribal Dance, Maximum Overdrive and The Real Thing.
On 11 April 2009 the pair performed together for the first time in 13 years at the I Love the 90’s concert in Hasselt, Belgium. Further gigs followed on 30 April at Radio 538’s Queen’s Day on Museumplein in Amsterdam and on 25 September as support for Milk Inc. at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp.
On 29 December it was confirmed they would release a new single in 2010 titled In Da Name Of Love as “Ray & Anita”; Jean-Paul DeCoster denied permission to use the 2 Unlimited name, despite Phil Wilde‘s approval. The single debuted at number 28 on the Tipparade at the end of 2009, reached number 1 on the Dutch Dance Top 30 and number 3 on the Belgium Dance Top 30, and placed in the Dutch top five singles.
The world premiere aired on Radio 538 on 5 January 2010 and Spinnin’ Records uploaded the track; iTunes Netherlands released it on 8 January, the CD followed on 22 January and the video on 30 January. The lyrics reference the naming dispute (“still Unlimited”). Anita also announced she had been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.
On 30 April 2010 they performed Still Unlimited at Queen’s Day in Amsterdam; on 4 September they played Retro Future at the Slam!FM Beach Break Party. The second single Nothing 2 Lose was announced on 14 November 2010 and performed at We Love The 90’s late that year. Chew Fu produced a remix; a preview of the “Chew Fu Unlimited Fix” premiered on radio on 26 June 2011.
In mid-July 2011 fans were invited to take part in the video shoot in Amsterdam (shoots on 28 and 29 July). The single was slated for release end of August 2011 and appears on the Amsterdam Heavy soundtrack. An NLpop Blog interview mentioned a new album and world tour in progress, but only occasional 1990s-themed shows followed. In July 2012 Ray Slijngaard and Anita Doth announced they would again perform under the name 2 Unlimited after reconciling with Jean-Paul DeCoster and launched the site 2unlimitedlive.com.